Board of the tongue and groove type



June 11, 1935. F. w. CHERRY 2,004,193

BOARD OF THE TONGUE AND GROOVE TYPE Filed Dec. 5, 1934 I ia444(%%m Q.

UNITED STATES" OARD OF THE TONGUE dnoovri TYPE Frank W. Cherry, KenilworthlllL, assignor to Lug-Lox Flooring Company, a corporation of.

Illinois ApplicationDecember 5, 1934, Serial No. 756,038

8 Claims.

The most satisfactory type of wooden floor is that in which the boards are provided with tonguesand grooves by means of which they are interlocked when engaged edge to edge with the 5 tongue of each, board entered in the groove of an adjacent board. In the better grades of flooring care is taken to makethe tongues a tight fit in the grooves. For example, when two such boards are fitted together and one of them is 10 grasped and lifted, the other board will also be lifted because of being held by the grip of the.

lips or fiangeson the tongueinterposed between the same. This construction insures that after a floor has been laid each board is supported by and'in turn supports the two boards on opposite sides thereof, so that no board can be pressed down below the plane of the top of an adjacent board, nor can any board rise so as to project above thetop of an adjacent board.

There has heretofore been developed a system of fastening in place and holding down floor boards of thetongue and groove'type by means of metal clips partially embracing the tongues and extending downwardly to a foundation through the joints between the boards, instead of employing nails as the fastening means. In order effectively to hold the boards in place, the upper ends of the clips must be in the shape of hooks each of which extends into the groove in a board underneath the tongue and follows the tongue inwardly and upwardly until it embraces the inner or free edge of the'tongue. The clips must be strong and sturdy in order properly to perform their functions and, even though they be made of sheet metal, they will be so thick that it is impracticable to employ them with standard floor boards, because there is not. room for them, and also for the tongues, and in the grooves in which both the tonguesand the clips must be nested. Therefore, the practice heretofore has been to cut away material from the under side of the tongues of the boards so thatthe tongues no longer fit tightly into the grooves of meeting boards. While this expedient'provides roomfor the clips, it destroys one of the most valuable properties of this type of flooring construction in that in the span between adjacent clips the tongue of the one board stands clear of the I lower lip below the groove in the adjacent board, 50 and therefore the latter board is not held down by the tongue and consequently is not restrained from rising so as to cause it to project above the first board. Neither is the board on which, the tongue is located supported from below by the second board, and therefore, if a heavy weight is placed on the first. of these boards in the span between two clips, that board will be pressed down below the other. This will occur, for example, if the leg of a piano or other heavy piece of furniture rests on a floor board at some point between'adjacent clips. Since the tongue on that board is not supported from below, the tongue side of the board is pressed down relatively to the adjacent board into which the tongue is entered. 3 l

The object of the present invention is to make it possible effectively to lay a floor of tongued and grooved boards with the use of holding clips instead of nails or the like without loss of any of the desirable qualities or properties inherent in the old standard tongue and groove construction.

Since the standard flooring boards do not provide room for clips in the tongue and groove joints, and since the departure from standard contours that has heretofore been the expedient adopted to provide the necessary room has brought about the disadvantages to which I have referred, it is my purpose to retain, in effect, the tried and, proven standard contours and yet provide room or space for the reception of the clips. Therefore, the present invention may be said to have for its object to produce a board of the tongue and groove type which will permit the tongue on one board to be held astightly as may be desired in the groove of the meeting board so that two boards which are fitted together mutually support each other to prevent relative displacements at right angles. to the planes thereof and, at the same time holding clips may 3 be effectively engaged withthe tongues without producing, an open joint or otherwise destroying 'or diminishing the desirable qualities or properties inherent in a standard tongue and groove joint.

The only way in which a tongue can be made to fit tightly into a, groove is to make it thick enough. to engage with the lips on opposite sides of the groove. Also, if clips are to be placed in a tongue and groove joint so as partially to embrace the tongue, space must be provided therefor between the tongue on the one board and the lower lip on the second board. In accordance with my invention, I so construct the boards that the tongue in one will fit as tightly as may be de- 50 sired in the groove of an adjacent board, the contourof the tongue being such, however, that when a clip is drivenhome it can cutout of the tongue a little space inwhich 'it may lieand be housed; To this end, I simply cut away from the i under side of the tongue of a standard or other board enough material to leave only a comparatively thin or narrow rib or bead. This bead need be only as high or as deep as the thickness of the metal of the clip so that, if it were not for the presence of the bead, there would be sufiicient room in the groove, underneath the tongue, to hold the clip. However, the bead gives a solid bearing on the. part of the tongue upon the lower or bottom lip of the adjacent board and thus obviates the looseness that would exist, in the joint if the rib or bead were not present.

The transverse Width or thickness of the ribforn bead being small, it is evident that when a clip is driven against the outer side. -1. face thereof,

particularly if the clip be. so shaped as .to have more or less of a shearing edge along the line of the base and perhaps throughout the depth,

or height of the rib or bead,the'l'ittle section of the rib or bead that lies in front of the clip will be cut away by the clip, Thus, the. tongue retainsits support on the underlying lip' on the other board, throughout the entire length of the tongue; much the greater part of the rib or bead being left intact and, where little sections have been cut away by the clips, the clips themselves take the place of. the rib or bead and thus the continuity of support for the tongue is not interrupted.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the clair'ns; but, for a full'understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be hadto the following detailed description takenin connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through two of my improved boards lying upon a foundation, spaced apart from each other and there beinga clip interlocked with the foundation and positioned between the two boards; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig.1,"showing theparts in the ,DQSitions which they occupy in the completed floor, and this figure may be regarded as being asection on line 2-2 of Fig. 3 Fig. 3 is a. section on line 33 of Fig. 2, the right-hand boardrin Fig.""2 being omitted; and Fig.4"is a section online 4-4ofFig.3.

' Referring to the drawing, I represents. a board having in one long edge a grooveiandfat the opposite long'edge, a tongue 3 adaptedtdfit into thegroove of a similar board when the two] boards are placed edge to edge. If desired, thisboard may be exactly like any standard board of [the tongue and groove type except to the extent which I shall now describe.

Since the floor boards must be secured to an underlying foundation, the, holding, clips must, of course, rise from the foundation upintol the joints between meeting boards. In standard floor board construction the upper lip, .4 and thelower lip 5 at the grooved edge of each board abut against vertical faces above andbelow the tongues fitting into the grooves. In order to provide room for what may be termed, the stems, of the. clips, I cut away a part .of each board below thetongue so that, instead of having a vertical edge'face 5m position to contact with a similar edge. face on the lower lip 5 of a meeting board, there is an edge face 5' that stands clear of this lip. when two boards are engaged with each other. Ithas, of course, been necessary to do, something, ofthis kind heretofore, although in somecases thelip 1.5 has been cut back, whereas in others thenecessary space has been provided by cutting awaa m ge or less material from the lower halves of both edges of each board.

In accordance with my invention, it may be said that I start with a tongue which is the standard tongue and then cut away material from the under side and across the greater part of the width of the tongue. I am not concerned, however, with the manner in which the desired contouris obtained, as long as the result is a tongue that will rest on the lower lip of a meeting board along a comparatively narrow strip extending lengthwiseof the tongue, thus leaving the major portion of the under side of the tongue raised above this lip for a distance approximately equal to thethickness of, the metal of the clips to be used in. holding the boards down. In the arrangement shown, I- have cut away enough materialfrornthe under side of the tongue to leave only a"comparatively narrow rib or head 1 set inwardly a short distance from the free edge of the tongue. As best shown in Fig. 4, this rib; or bead on one of two boards fits tightlyagainst the lower lip 5 of the second board as does also the topof the tongue against the upper lip l of the latter board When two boards are engaged with. each other. In other words, two of, my. 1m.- proved boards'fit together just as do twp ordinary or standard tongued and grooved boards, and a floor composed of my boards may thereforebe laid by'nailin g, if desired,

' In the drawing I have'illustrated the manner of laying a floor composed of my improvedboards. Thus, theboardsare laid upona foundationponiposed of shallow channeleshaped strips 8. The particular form of clip thatI'haveshown. however, is intended only to be illustrativais one made of a piece of sheetmetal folded and bent to provide a foot portion 9 and a stem portion H) of double thickness, together with an upper trough-like hook portion II. If one, free end of the plate or sheet of which the cliptisl made is bent up so as to lie on thefront side/of the clip as it approaches the tongue ofaaboard in laying the floor and terminates at the upper end of the stem, as indicatedlat [2, this part of the clip constitutes an effective. shearingfm ember adaptedtopcut right through the comparatively thin rib or bead on the tongue whenthe clip is ri n ga st h n ued: de ih a dis as to cause. the hook'partially toembra tongue. Thelittle piece 'of i'rib or bead cut away by ,thenlip is pushed ahead by th clip and dropsdownin'front of it so asto beout of theway. The face 6 on the tongued edge oi ,e board stands far enough back sq as tobeogit of contact with the steinofthe clip. Therefore, if thelittle section .of rib or head that is Qntiaway by ablipshould happen to lodge in the.,Spfi.C..e..b e,- tween the stem of the clip and the facemfi, it would. simply be crushed into a sufiiciently, .flat condition so as not -to interfere with the complete closing ofthe joint between the. lip ,4,.an,d.th,e vertical face 14 above the tongue. Bysetting the bead or rib back somewhat from the .edgeof the tongue, thereis no danger thatthe rounded edge of the. tongue will ride upon the clip to. liftthe bead pmb above. thetop of the. stem .of .theclip when theclip engagestherib; or bead; since the flat under face of thetongue. outwardly from the rib or bead .at this time overlies the. stem .ofrthe clip and the pressure .of,-the stem. isnormalto the at the i i ed iatthe aseofthe latter.

Herman I hav re e red.- emydnve tiqn. as pply ng b ar eda tedt banged. asfloorina It will, of course, be understood that the principle is the same whether a layer of boards lies horizontally or vertically or at any angle or in any angular position between the horizontal and the vertical and regardless of whether the layer of boards is to be walked upon or is to serve simply as a siding or as a ceiling or any other purpose.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A board of the tongue and groove type having on the under side of the tongue a rib or bead extending lengthwise of the tongue.

2. A board of the tongue and groove type having on the under side of the tongue a rib or head extending throughout the entire length of the tongue.

3. A board of the tongue and groove type having on the under side of the tongue a rib or bead extending lengthwise of the tongue, the overall depth or thickness of the tongue at the bead being such that the bead fits snugly against the bottom of the groove in a similar board and the tongue fits snugly against the top of the groove in the latter board when the two boards are engaged with each other.

4. A board of the tongue and groove type having on the under side of the tongue a rib or bead extending lengthwise of the tongue, the parts being so proportioned that when two similar boards are engaged edge to edge the tongue on one of the boards fits against the lip at the top of the groove in the second board, whereas only the bead portion of the tongue fits against the lower lip of the second board.

5. A board of the tongue and groove type having on the under side of the tongue a rib or bead extending throughout the entire length of the tongue, the thickness of the rib or bead being such that the rib or bead will shear readily when an object is driven against the side thereof and thus make it possible to cause a fastening clip or the like to cut away a section of the rid or head when driven upon the tongue.

6. In combination, two tongue and groove boards fittedtogether edge to edge, a fastening clip extending up into the joint between the boards and partially embracing the tongue member on one of the boards, the depth of the body portion of the tongue plus the thickness of the material of the portion of the clip that underlies the tongue being equal to the width of the groove, and said tongue having on the under side adjacent to the clip longitudinal bead-like means whose depth is equal to the thickness of that part of the clip underlying the tongue.

7. A board of the tongue and groove type having on the under side of the tongue a rib or bead extending lengthwise of the tongue, the over-all depth or thickness of the tongue at the bead being equal to the corresponding dimension of the groove, whereby the tongue on one board will be a tight fit in the groove of a similar board.

8. A board of the tongue and groove type having on the under side of the tongue a rib or bead extending lengthwise of the tongue, said rib or bead being set in a short distance from the free edge of the tongue.

FRANK W. CHERRY. 

